


Take my measurements anew

by solrosan



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friendship, Kidnapping, Prince Eggsy Unwin, Retired Eggsy, no one died
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 21:30:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17815862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solrosan/pseuds/solrosan
Summary: Eggsy momentarily comes out of retirement when Tilde and her parents are kidnapped on their way to a state visit to Iceland.Written for the prompt:Only Tilde knows about Eggsy being a badass, everyone else thinks he's just a tailor. Someone manages to get around palace security and hold the Tilde and her parents hostage, only for Eggsy to bust in and save the day. Cue shocked in-laws.





	Take my measurements anew

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CrayonsPink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrayonsPink/gifts).



> I hope you like this CrayonsPink! I had a lot of fun writing it and I never thought it be this long (the plan was just a short prompt fill over at Tumblr). Thank you so much for sending the prompt to me!

The red light indicating that the camera was rolling went dark. Eggsy slumped forward, eyes closed, bracing himself against the table in the Cabinet meeting room of Stockholm Palace. Deep breaths in, deep breaths out. Someone talked to him, but he couldn’t make out the words.

“English, please…” he mumbled, looking up at the other people in the room who were all watching him. Aside from the camera crew and his personal security detail, they were all senior members of the PR office or SÄPO, the Swedish Security Service. “I can’t— I’m sorry— I— English, please?”

“It was good, your highness,” said one of the women from the PR office. “We have what we need.”

“So I can go?”

The woman nodded. 

It was all Eggsy needed to push away from the table and head for the door. He pointed at his security detail before they had a chance to move. 

“Don’t follow me.”

The agents hesitated, but stayed.

“You highness,” the PR woman called out after him. “Gary, for the love of—”

He didn’t hear more than that before he slammed the door shut behind him. He tried to walk, but it quickly turned into a jog, through the rooms and down one flight of stairs. Soon he was at the doors of Princess Sibylla's apartment, which was his and Tilde’s part of the palace. The guards posted in front of the door moved without having to be asked. 

Eggsy locked the door behind him and fumbled with the app on his phone that blocked transmissions from any listening devices. When he turned around, Harry was getting up from the sofa and buttoning his jacket.

Eggsy took a deep breath. “What do we know?”

-x-

Harry, backed up by both the Kingsman and the Statesman agencies, didn’t know that much at all. At 10:47 yesterday the small plane containing the Swedish Head of State, his wife, and his only heir, had been hijacked and after 11:01 all traces of them and the aircraft were gone. 

How it had been done, how it had even been possible, where they were taken and by whom had been the topic of speculations for every media outlet in Sweden for a day now and the theories ranged from Islamist terror organisations, to communist terror organisations, to right-wing extremists, to lone-wolf idiots.

And while SÄPO had secured the palace (and Eggsy, the only free member of the royal family) and experts drew parallels to Dag Hammarskjöld’s death and Tilde’s kidnapping in 2014, Eggsy had called Harry. Early this morning, Eggsy and Harry had finally convinced SÄPO to let Harry into the palace in spite of the lockdown.

It was now twenty-three hours after the plane disappeared. The statement Eggsy had filmed was going out at noon and was a combined address to the nation and communication to the kidnappers. It had been written by the PR staff and SÄPO and Eggsy couldn’t remember a word of it, only partly because it had been in Swedish.

Now he sat on a Gustavian sofa, leaning forward and trying very hard to listen to what Merlin was telling him through the laptop Harry had brought.

“And you’re sure you can’t find any of their phones?” he asked for the third time when Merlin paused to find something on his tablet.

“Aye,” said Merlin without looking up. “We have an active trace on all the numbers you’ve provided, but these people managed to overpower six bodyguards and hijack a plane. They aren’t amateurs.”

“Tilde’s watch?”

Merlin looked up, shaking his head. “No luck, lad, but that one needs proximity, right?”

Eggsy nodded. “Useless piece of shit, that is.”

It had been a bit of a gag gift. They had watched Star Trek Beyond and not been able to stop joking about the radioactive necklace Spock had given Uhura, since it felt like a very Kingsman-y thing to give your partner tracking devices. So for the anniversary of their first meeting Eggsy had given Tilde a watch with a tracking device that ranged of about 300 meters. It was never meant to actually track her, but now he wished it had been.

“I’ll call you in two hours with an update,” said Merlin. Eggsy nodded again and signed out. He rubbed his face and stayed with it hidden in his hands. This could not be fucking happening. 

Harry put his hand on his shoulder. He had been standing behind the sofa the entire conversation with Merlin. 

“Before your next briefing with the Security Service, I have something I want you to put on.”

Eggsy looked back at him. “What?”

“A Kingsman suit.”

“You really think someone’s going to shoot me inside the palace?”

“Are you willing to take that risk right now?”

Eggsy blinked, but got up and followed Harry to the inner room where Harry had put his things — a suitcases, a backpack and a garment bag. He held out the garment bag to Eggsy. 

“I hope it fits. It was made before you retired, but I’d say you have roughly the same measurements.”

Eggsy took the garment bag without a word and started to undress. When he was done with the tie, Harry gave him an eyeglass case. Eggsy felt his stomach drop and his hand trembled when he reached for it. 

“Thanks, Harry,” he mumbled as he opened it. “Any upgrades I should be aware of?”

Harry shook his head. “You haven’t been gone that long.”

Eggsy wasn’t sure about that, the last thirteen months since his engagement felt like a lifetime. He put on the glasses, feeling a little bit as he had that first time on the Kingsman Jet when they were going to take down Valentine. The anger. The fear. The weight of the moment. The only thing he’d been allowed to bring with him from Kingsman when he left was his signet ring, and even if being given glasses again wasn’t a reinstatement, at least it was an acknowledgement that he wasn’t an ordinary civilian.

“This way I can listen in on your briefings with the Security Service without anyone being the wiser,” said Harry.

“Fuck that, you’re coming with me.”

“And how would you propose we’d explain that to people?”

“My wife’s been kidnapped,” said Eggsy. “I don’t need to explain shit.”

With that, he took the suit jacket and put it on as he walked out the room to the briefing. He sighed in relief when he heard Harry fall into step behind him.

-x-

Tilde sat with her back straight on the hard fold out bed. This was nothing like the dungeon Valentine had kept her in. This place was cold, uncomfortable and dusty.

It was hard to tell where they were. They hadn’t reached Reykjavik, that’s for sure, but three hours of fuel could get you from Stockholm to the Mediterranean. Or a good way into Russia. It would be hilarious on a historic level if it were Russians who had kidnapped them, and the temperature indicated at least that they weren’t in Italy.

Their captors had only spoken English around them. Tilde couldn’t make out the accent of the four hooded men who had managed to hide inside the plane before take off and kill their security detail. Tilde was most impressed, however, — if “impressed” was a word she was allowed to use — by their ability to overthrow the pilots and fly the plane.

Both she and her dad had military training, but going through basic training and being in the military were two very different things. It did however make it clear that these people were not military. If this was good or bad was hard to tell.

Tilde, having spent as much time as she had around intelligence agents, didn’t think they were that either. It was harder to tell, though, seeing how different agencies must have different protocols and these people clearly had _some_ training or otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to hijack a plane filled with trained security agents.

The kidnappers had stripped them of everything of value — mobiles, watches, jewellery — so everything containing a transmitter was gone. Tilde had a vain hope that they wouldn’t destroy her watch. Not that the transmitter in it would be of any use, but the idea of _something_ sending out a distress call felt better than knowing that they were completely silenced.

-x-

Eggsy put his glasses on the table and rubbed his eyes. He’d never got used to being a hologram participant at the Table but it was more draining than he remembered. They had finished their third, and last, briefing with Merlin for the day. Opposite him sat Harry, still wearing his glasses. 

“I’ll call for some sandwiches,” Harry said and got up. 

Eggsy wanted to protest that he wasn’t hungry, but he knew that wasn’t true. Not really. He had barely eaten in two days, which wasn’t at all productive. He hadn’t slept either, he couldn’t. The court’s doctor had prescribed tablets to help with that, but Eggsy hadn’t taken them.

“You can ask for something else for yourself,” said Eggsy when Harry came back and put down a tray with six sandwiches and a teapot. “Kitchen’s great.”

“Sandwiches are fine. Do you still take sugar?”

Eggsy nodded, watching Harry prepare his tea and pour him a glass of water. The smell of ham on the sandwiches made him nauseous, but he took one anyway. It tasted like paper and grew in his mouth, but with the water he got down two of them before he gave up. 

He looked at his glass as Harry refilled it. “How long can you survive without water?”

“Don’t go there.”

“I can just google it, you know.”

“Depending on your physical condition and weather or not you get any food, between two and four days.”

“Fuck…”

“Eggsy, it’s—”

“Why can’t we find them?” Eggsy raised his voice. “Two of the world’s best intelligence agencies are on this! And SÄPO! So why can’t we find them?”

“It took weeks before we managed to track the missing Heads of States and Governments Valentine had taken. When that landed in your lap most of it was done already. Good intelligence takes time.”

“We don’t have time! _They_ don’t have time!”

“And if we run in the wrong direction? I know this is hard, but we have every available agent on this. We will find them.”

“Alive?”

“Hopefully.”

Eggsy ran his fingers through his hair. The strain of the last days almost had him in tears, but he’d be damned if he gave in to that. He got up and walked a lap around the room. On the second lap he stopped in front of one of the windows facing the inner courtyard. It was completely deserted, having been closed off since the attack on the plane. 

Eggsy stared at his own reflection, more than the world outside, listening to Harry clear the table. He was so grateful they had managed to get him in, because he didn’t know what he’d do without him there. 

“Is it my fault?” Eggsy whispered when Harry was done. “Are they doing this to get to Kingsman, or are they just idiots?”

“As far as we can tell they are just idiots. Or ‘idiots’ perhaps isn’t the right word, they are highly sophisticated, but we haven’t found a link to Kingsman. Your secret is still safe. As is ours.”

“And you’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“You’re not saying that to make me feel better?”

“Can anything I say make you feel better?”

Eggsy coughed on a laugh. Or a sob. It was hard to tell. After a long, drawn out silence he turned to Harry. 

“Did you see where I threw the pills?” he asked with a sigh. “I think I need to sleep…”

-x-

Tilde walked around the small room, tracing her fingers against the wall. She had spent a lot of time in Valentine’s dungeon touching the stone around her to ground herself in the moment. It was impossible to not compare the two times.

Last time, she’d had no sense of time. The light had been off for a few hours each day during which she had slept, but there had been no way of telling if the intervals had added up to actual days or if it had been another form of mind control. Now at least, they had a small window from which daylight came in.

It was infuriating not knowing why they were there, why they were taken. At least Valentine had made that very clear from the start. 

Still, the most striking difference was that she wasn’t alone this time. It was good and bad. Not being isolated was a gift, but her parents were old and seeing them struggle with the cold and the hard conditions was immensely stressful.

Not to mention that her mum had taken it upon herself to try all the food and water they gave them, because, as she put it, she wasn’t in the line of succession. So far, nothing seemed to have been poisoned but now Tilde really understood why she and her dad usually never travelled together.

-x-

Eggsy tore off his glasses and left the table. He heard Harry confirm to Merlin and Roxy that this was exactly what he had done, but then Harry went back to listen to what was being said at Salivine Row.

It was their first briefing the third day after the hijacking and they had found the plane. It seemed to have landed on an abandoned airstrip in Kalyazinsky, Russia, but was now completely burned out. Seeing the footage of the blackened aeroplane skeleton had been too much for Eggsy even with Merlin’s reassurance that there were three bodies unaccounted for before he’d pulled it up on the screen.

It took forever until Harry also took off his glasses. Eggsy, who had paced back and forth the entire time, stopped behind the chair where he had been sitting.

“Sorry,” Eggsy mumbled. “That wasn’t— I’m sorry.”

Harry shook his head. “Do you want to hear the rest?”

Eggsy nodded, his hands gripping the back of the chair as Harry retold what Merlin had said. Besides what Eggsy had heard himself, there wasn’t that much of interest except that Percival had been redirected from his mission in Crimea to go to Moscow to meet his contacts there. Eggsy strongly suspected Harry left things out.

“Merlin has already sent this footage over to the Security Service,” said Harry when he was done.

Eggsy frowned. “How?”

“Email.”

“No, I mean _how?_ ”

“This isn’t the first time Kingsman has collaborated with official agencies,” said Harry, shrugging. “We’ve had a protocol regarding the Swedish Security Service since you retired.”

“What? Why haven’t you told me that?”

“We hoped we'd never have to use it. It does however mean that you need to be briefed about this again. Do you think you can do that?”

“You mean can I pretend to be shocked at the news that my family’s security detail has been turned to ashes? Yeah, thanks, I think I’m good.”

Harry raised his eyebrows and Eggsy felt a small sting of guilt. Harry didn’t deserve that. The feeling wasn’t enough to overpower everything else he was feeling though and he let it pass. 

“This is good, Eggsy,” said Harry calmly. “The search area isn’t ‘the world’ anymore.”

“They have a three days head start! Who says they haven’t stolen another plane?”

“No one, but judging by the airfield it’s unlikely.”

“So we’re back to ‘the world’ then!” He took a deep breath and continued much quieter. “Why hasn’t anyone claimed this yet? Why no ransom demand? What’s the point? Why kidnap a king if you’re not going to do something with him?”

There was a knock on the door.

“Fuck off!” yelled Eggsy, but the door opened anyway. He glared at David Ljungblad — the head of court security — when he entered.

“I’m sorry, your highness,” David said, “but there’s been a development.”

Eggsy’s face went blank and his legs almost gave in under him. It was a good thing the chair was close by so that he could use it as support. It took a good few seconds before he realised that it was the same news as he’d just heard at the Table briefing. 

“How about that?” he muttered when they were left alone again and he moved to actually sit on the chair. “Convincing enough?”

“It wasn’t your acting skills I was worried about, it’s the fact that you clearly didn’t have to act at all. If you want to, we’ll keep you out of the Table meetings where we go over information we share with the Security Service.”

Eggsy gave Harry the same dark glare as he had the David Ljungblad. “Hell, you will.”

-x-

People had been standing at the edge of the secured perimeter since the news broke three days ago. They were holding up candles, Swedish flags, and messages of love and unity. Eggsy was amazed that they cared. If this had happened to the British royal family while he was still living in London no one could have dragged him to something like this. Chances are he had relished in the noble class’ misery. 

These people cared. They showed up. For three days they had showed up.

He didn’t for a second doubt that there were people who — like he once had — wished the news would move on and report on something else, but people came. People cared. Because of that he had showered, he had put on his Kingsman suit again, and he had filmed his second address to the nation this afternoon.

He had thanked them from the bottom of his heart and he had lied and said that their support made this easier to bear. It didn’t, not even the slightest, but he’d said it because it sounded right.

When he came back to Princess Sibylla’s apartment he felt beaten up. He was about to tell Harry that he was going to take one pill too many and go to bed, but as soon as he stepped inside the room Harry held up a finger for him to be quiet.

“He just came in,” said Harry, clearly in a meeting. “What’s best, should he join or should I brief him?”

All weariness went out of Eggsy’s body and he hurried over to the table as Harry finished the call and took off his glasses.

“We think we have them,” Harry said. “Roxy’s gearing up and they are fueling the plane.” 

“Where?”

“The Kalyazinsky district, not far from where we found the plane.”

“Russia.”

“North of Moscow, east of the Volga. One of the Statesmen’s informants lead us there.”

“And they are— They—”

“Alive? As far as we can tell, yes.”

Eggsy had to sit down. They were alive. They were… They… The image of the burned out plane from this morning was still fresh in his memory and he had started to prepare for other news than this.

“When do we leave?” he asked. 

“We’re not.”

“If you think I’m just going—”

“ _We_ are not going, you are.”

Eggsy blinked. “What?”

“In two hours a car will come to take you to Uppsala garrison. They have an airstrip there and Merlin has arranged a plane that will take you to Kalyazinsky where you will meet Lancelot. Merlin has promised to brief you in the car.”

“But what about you?”

“Someone has to cover the fact that the only free member of the royal family is leaving the country unsupervised — or were you planning to tell them?”

“Heh… no.”

Harry smiled briefly. He reached for his tablet and placed it between them on the table. He pulled up a blueprint of the palace. Eggsy didn’t think too much about how Kingsman got their hands on that.

“Now,” said Harry, “we have just under two hours to figure out how to get you out of this place.”

-x-

Roxy was waiting with the car ready when Eggsy touched ground. They had landed at the far side of the airstrip so he wouldn’t have to see the burned out plane but it took some willpower to not look back at it. He hurried to the car, the adrenaline already too high. 

“Your highness,” said Roxy when he opened the door and jumped into the car. “Looking sharp, but it took you long enough.”

“Don’t.”

“Sorry…” Roxy smiled apologetically. She put in the right gear and they were off. “Merlin briefed you on the plane, right?”

“The car, but yeah,” said Eggsy and started counting the points of the briefing. “Three main points of entry. If they have surveillance it’s primitive, but they are heavily armed. At least two vehicles. They most likely keep them in the basement.”

“Exit plan?”

“Same as we got there, but with layover in Tallinn. Gin and Merlot are flying in for clean-up duty. Percival’s still in Moscow to smooth things over if need be.”

“And did he tell you—”

“That you’re in charge? Repeatedly.”

“Good. Bag in the backseat, take what you need.”

Eggsy reached back and pulled the bag to the front seat. It was heavy and cumbersome and he almost hit Roxy in the head. He unzipped it and actually laughed when he looked inside.

“What did you do? Raid the armoury and throw everything you could grab in the bag?”

“Something like that,” Roxy muttered. “Short on time and I didn’t know what you’re comfortable with these days. Thought I’d give you a selection.”

Eggsy helped himself to two handguns and a few hand grenades before maneuvering the bag to the backseat again.

“So, how are you doing?” asked Roxy.

“Thanks but… but I can’t do this now.”

Roxy glanced at him, but put her focus back on the small dirt road almost straight away. 

“I’m not your therapist,” she said, “and I’m not asking as your friend. I’m asking as the person currently responsible for your life. From what I gathered from Harry, you’ve not been handling this very well.”

Eggsy was about to protest, but then he slumped back in the seat and muttered, “Can you blame me?”

“No, but I’m about to storm an old KGB safe-house to rescue three hostages with you as my closest backup, so for all our safety I have to ask. How are you?”

“Brilliant.”

“Eggsy.”

“What the fuck do you want me to say, Roxy? My family’s kidnapped, I take pills to get any sleep at all and Harry’s been force feeding me sandwiches, but it’s not like I’m in worse shape than I was when I went after Valentine. Or Poppy. And if you or anyone else think I wasn’t a complete mess those times—”

“You were a field agent those times.”

“ _Arthur_ sent me here!”

“Harry’s not a field agent anymore either.”

“I _have_ to be here, Roxy.”

Roxy kept her eyes on the road, but her grip around the wheel tightened. 

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t be here,” she said after a short silence. “I’m saying… if you die, that’s on me and I’d rather bench you now than burry you later if you’re not sure.”

Eggsy inhaled through his nose. “I can do this. I promise.”

“Good.” Roxy smiled briefly. “Thank you.”

Eggsy turned and looked out the window, the pine trees that swished past reminded him of Sweden. Not that he’d had time to experience much of Sweden’s nature and wildlife, but he’d seen pictures and they had planned trips for next spring. He and Tilde had made plans. For the future. They… 

The guns felt heavy in his lap. He hadn’t fired one in over a year. Hell, he hadn’t even held one since he left London. It wasn’t… It wasn’t ideal, he could admit that.

When the agents had pulled him out of his meeting with BRIS to tell him what had happened, his first thought had been to call Harry. To call Kingsman. To handle this himself. He was, after all, better trained than the Swedish Security Service. Or he had been, at one point.

He could do this. If Harry could come back after two years and a bullet in his eye, then a year of waving and handshaking shouldn’t have put him too much off his game. 

After roughly forty minutes of driving, Roxy slowed down and parked the car by the side of the road. The sun was almost gone, making the forest spookier than it would have been otherwise. 

Eggsy was the first one out, strapping his guns to their holsters. He turned on the tracking on his watch and held his breath. Nothing. There was nothing. His heart sank, but he tried to tell himself that it didn't mean anything. They had probably smashed Tilde’s watch along with their phones.

Roxy tapped him on the shoulder and they walked side-by-side into the forest. They had been on enough missions together that they knew where they had each other. When the safe-house came into sight, though, Roxy put her hand on his arm to stop him from going further.

“We go in by Merlin’s directives,” she said. “I’m taking your word and trust that you can still carry yourself, but I’m going to issue one order before we go in.”

Eggsy nodded.

“Last intel, there were sixteen warm bodies inside, but if that’s changed, I’m the one going into the basement first, okay?”

Eggsy swallowed thickly. “Yes, ma’am.”

She squeezed his arm. “Good. Then Galahad, go in through the back and fire on sight.”

Eggsy nodded again and headed round the building. He walked in a wide circle to make sure he wasn’t seen. Then, as he started to walk to the door, his watched vibrated. He looked at it and his heart skipped a beat.

It had picked up a signal. Tilde’s watch was inside.

-x-

There was a loud bang coming from upstairs and Tilde and her parents got to their feet. It was followed in quick succession of more bangs, screams and lot of commotion.

Tilde’s heart was in her throat. She had heard these sounds from the inside of a locked room before. The commotion stopped abruptly and for a while it became quiet, which was even scarier. Then muffled voices came from the other side of the door and someone pounded on it.

“Tilde?” came Eggsy’s voice and Tilde almost started to cry. “Babe, are you in there? Tilde?”

“Yes!” she yelled. “I’m here, we’re here!”

“I didn’t find the key this time, so I’m going to have to shot it open, yeah? Can you all move out of the way?”

Tilde took her parents by their hands, ignoring their confused questions about if that had been Gary, and pressed them against the wall in the corner next to the door.

“Now!”

“Cover your ears!” yelled Eggsy back, but didn’t give them much time to do so before he fired the first shot. It echoed terribly in the room, but two bullets later, the door swung open, and there he was, just like last time.

-x- 

“Eggsy!”

“Babe…” Eggsy breathed out the word and stumbled into the room to hug her. He made sure to hold his warm gun away from her, but buried his face against her neck. She smelled objectively terrible, but subjectively wonderful. “Aren’t you that princess who went missing?”

She choked on a laugh, “Yeah. Did you bring any champagne?”

“Sorry, forgot.”

“Galahad,” said Roxy behind them. He wanted to tell her to leave them alone, but he knew better and reluctantly let go of Tilde.

“Go with Roxy, yeah?” he said softly. “She’ll make sure you’ll get out of here okay. Can you do that? I’ll take your parents.”

Tilde nodded. She kissed him before moving towards Roxy, and Eggsy forced himself to focus on his in-laws. They stared at him and he realised that he had to be a sight, dusty and bloody and with his gun still out. He didn’t bother putting it away.

He took his mother-in-law’s hand. “You okay? Did they— You okay?”

She nodded, her eyes wandering between the gun and the blood on his clothes.

“Gary, vad—”

“Later, yeah?” he said, cutting his father-in-law off and trying to smile. “You okay to walk? It’s not far. We have a car and water and...”

He trailed off and on a weird impulse hugged his father-in-law, still holding his mother-in-law’s hand. He’d never thought he’d be this happy to see either of them.

“Don’t look around too much on the way out, yeah?” he told them when he let go. “It’s a bit...um… don’t look around.”

Eggsy kept his mother-in-law’s hand in a tight grip as they made their way out of the house. Every few steps he looked over his shoulder to make sure they were still there. Something about pillars of salt and women disappearing back into the underworld prickled in the back of his mind, but he kept looking anyway and soon all three of them were outside in the forest. 

Roxy had the motor running when they reached the car. As he helped his in-laws into the back seat with Tilde, Eggsy noticed that the duffel with weapons had disappeared. Seeing how calm Roxy seemed, she was probably the one moving it.

“Watch your fingers,” said Eggsy as he closed the car door. His hands stayed on the door for a second, before he moved to jump into the front seat. They had them. All three of them. They were safe.

He fumbled with the seat belt, taking a deep breath and falling back against the seat when he was done. He heard Roxy’s seat belt fasten as well and she turned around in the seat next to him.

“Everyone okay?” she asked and got noddings and mumblings for answers. “Great.”

She turned back and shifted gear. As she did, she made eye contact with Eggsy and mouthed, “You okay?”

He nodded and mouthed back, “Thank you.”

-x-

Kingsman had facilities outside Tallinn where they took them. It was an old USSR bomb shelter, but you could only tell from the outside. On the inside, it was as modern as the facilities outside London. Eggsy felt a sting of nostalgia and homesickness walking around there.

His family had been taken almost straight to the medical floor and after making sure that they were taken care of, he had gone to the showers. The stress and agony of the last few days seemed to wash off him along with the blood and the dirt, but his body ached and his head was splitting. With the water running down his face he allowed himself to finally cry. 

He got out after half an hour, numb but calm. Someone had been in there and taken his dirty clothes and replaced them with what had to be classified as a pyjamas and a Kingsman bathrobe while he had showered. It was the most comfortable things he had ever put on.

As he padded down the hall in his slippers, he realised that sleeping for a year would be perfect right now. It was the good kind of tired he always felt after a completed mission. This one had the added bonus of having brought his family home.

He went back to the medical floor, finding Roxy — still dirty as fuck — sitting outside the examination room. She smiled when she saw him.

“My turn to hit the shower, then,” she said as she got up.

“You didn’t have to wait for—”

“Of course I did.”

“I’d kiss you if you weren’t so filthy.”

“You know your wife is on the other side of that door, right?” said Roxy with a grin, pointing at the door behind her. 

“Yeah,” he breathed. “She is, isn’t she?”

Roxy took his hand and squeezed hard. “Let’s never meet under these circumstances again, all right?”

Eggsy nodded. “Deal.”

Roxy gave him a peck on the cheek before walking down the same way he had come to take a shower and change. Eggsy didn’t waste any time before knocking on the door and was let in by a nurse. 

“How are they?” he asked.

“Different stages of dehydration and exhaustion. Bruised. Nothing severe. You can take them back to Stockholm tomorrow.”

“Can I see them?”

The nurse nodded and pointed him along. Eggsy opened the door to the next room. Inside were four beds, the one closest to the door was empty. Tilde and her parents all had drips, her father was also hooked up to an EKG machine that beeped rhythmically and comforting. They seemed to have been allowed to take showers of their own since all of them had damp hair. 

Eggsy had never seen his in-laws looking this human. It took him aback and he realised he was starring. 

“Fuck, it’s good to see all of you,” he mumbled, walking over to take Tilde’s outstretched hand. He kissed it and held it close to his heart as he bent down to give her a proper kiss on the mouth.

Tilde smiled at him. “Still no champagne, I see.”

“No alcohol on the premisses.”

“Liar.”

He laughed softly, but became more serious when he looked at his in-laws.

“Suppose it’s ‘later’ now, isn’t it?” he said, half-embarrassed without really knowing why. This, his history as a Kingsman agent, wasn’t something he was embarrassed of. On the contrary, it was one of the few things in his former life he was proud of.

Perhaps it was because his relationship with Tilde’s parents was strained, at best, and admitting that he had lied to the from the very first time they met didn’t seem like the best way to improve it. To keep withholding it and not explain didn’t seem like a good choice either right now.

He hadn’t, however, asked Harry how much he was allowed to tell them – if anything. Then again, here they were inside a Kingsman facility, being looked after by Kingsman staff, all of it authorised by Arthur, so…

“You’re the intelligence agent who saved Tilde three years ago, aren’t you?” asked his mother-in-law suddenly when he hesitated for too long.

He stared at her, but nodded to confirm. “I’m retired now, but… yeah. I’m sorry for the lying. The agency — Kingsman, that is — has quite a strict policy about this.”

There was a long, drawn out silence while Tilde’s parents tried to process the new information about their son-in-law. 

“But Kingsman is a tailor shop,” said Tilde’s dad when he found his words. “I’ve bought clothes from there.”

Eggsy smiled. He had really appreciated his father-in-law’s attempt to bond with him by ordering suits from Kingsman.

“It’s a really tailor shop,” Eggsy said, “but it’s mostly a front.”

“And you’re not a tailor?”

Eggsy shook his head. “I can talk fabric and stitches well enough to play the part, but… no.”

“You play it well.”

“I’m really sorry for lying to you, I—”

His father-in-law held up his hand. “It was a compliment, Gary.”

Eggsy breathed out slowly, feeling himself grow a little, and he nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

“Does Ljungblad know any of this? And for that matter, where are they?”

Eggsy smiled sheepishly at the mention of the head of the court’s security. “I’m pretty sure Kingsman has let them know you’re safe, but no, they don’t know. They don’t even know I’m here.”

“How did you manage to—“ Tilde started but Eggsy interrupted her.

“Harry. I called him as soon as… as soon as...”

Tilde nodded once, deciding to leave all other questions about logistics until they were alone. 

“Do you still, I mean, do you still… Are you still working for these people?” asked his mother-in-law.

“No, I’m retired.”

“Yes, you said that, but then what about today?”

“Call it a personal favour.”

His mother-in-law shook her head, smiling. “And people said you’d be the death of the monarchy. What would they say if they knew you have saved it twice?”

“I had help both times,” Eggsy mumbled. “And you can’t, you can’t tell anyone this, yeah? About Kingsman and me and anything.”

“Don’t worry,” said his father-in-law reassuringly, “this family keeps bigger secrets than this. Comes with the job. You’ll see.” 

Eggsy grinned. He couldn’t imagine a bigger secret than the Crown princess’ husband being a former spy who had killed people on multiple occasions, but he decided to not look under that particular rock right now. The important thing was that they were alive and safe.

And it seemed like Kingsman was safe, too.

-x-

Tilde slipped out of her bed and in the dark tiptoed over to the bed next to her. Before she got there, Eggsy moved aside to make room for her. She crept up and made herself small in his arms as he arranged the blanket. The bed didn’t really fit both of them, but neither of them cared. 

“Can’t sleep,” Eggsy murmured against the top of her head. She couldn’t tell if it was a question or a statement, but the fact that Eggsy had been lying awake in the dark told her that he needed this just as much as she did.

“How have you been?” she whispered.

“Insufferable. God, I’m going to have to apologise to everyone...”

“I’m sorry, I promise I won’t do it again.”

He giggled quietly. “I’d appreciate that, but I’ll save you as many time as you need.”

She turned her head to find his mouth. She kissed him and whispered, “My knight.”

“I’m not an agent anymore.”

“Still my knight in pin-striped suit.”

“I love you,” he whispered, “so fucking much... I can’t even… You’re safe.”

“I’m safe.”

“No place safer than a Kingsman bunker.”

“Your arms.”

He laughed softly. “Babe, that’s cheesy as hell.”

“Don’t care.”

He held her closer and she managed to nestle an arm around him as well. It could sound as cheesy as it wanted, because this was by far the safest place Tilde could imagine and it had nothing to do with Kingsman.

-x-

The outer courtyard was packed with people and a low murmur of voices seeped into the Vasa room of Stockholm palace. Eggsy felt anxious, more so than he had the pervious times he waited to step up to the window and wave to the masses. He wasn’t nervous – or feel like he was about to throw up – like he had the first time, but the idea of letting his family step out in front of so many people only two days after he had got them back was unsettling.

They had landed on Swedish soil around midday yesterday in all secrecy. A telegram had gone out about two hours later, along with a communiqué by the court, saying that they were home. Meeting the public today wasn’t planned, but spontaneous and rooted in affection for the people gathered outside. Much like Eggsy’s second address to the nation. So he got it, he understood why they wanted to do this, but he didn’t like it. At all.

Roxy had stayed in Tallinn to be briefed by Gin and Merlot, but at least Harry was still in Stockholm if something would happen.

Tilde took his hand as they opened the window and the murmur exploded in cheers and whistles. Eggsy’s heart beat hard in his chest as they walked up to the window behind Tilde’s parents.

When the crowd saw them, the cheers got if possible even louder. Tilde and her parents all raised their hands waving as soon as they came into sight. Eggsy stood half a step behind them, as was his habit, and he scanned the crowd looking for potential threats. He didn’t see anything in the sea of waving Swedish flags, but that didn’t make him relax.

His father-in-law lowered his arm after a minute and instead he turned to Eggsy and started to applaud. Eggsy blinked, feeling completely lost, and it only got more confusing when both his mother-in-law and Tilde followed the king’s example. The people on the ground started to clap their hands too and cheered louder, even if they didn’t know what it was they were actually cheering.

Embarrassed, Eggsy took a step forward when Tilde nudged him. Discreetly he turned on the transmission on his glasses under the guise of pushing his glasses a bit further up his nose before he raised his hand and waved. 

Harry could say whatever he wanted about not getting or needing thanks for the job they did, and quite frankly, Eggsy could probably never thank them enough for what they had done for him. However, if his royal family now knew and accepted all about his old life, then it was only right that his Kingsman family should get to share a little bit of his new and what it felt like to to be thanked by a nation.

**Author's Note:**

> 1) _SÄPO_ stands for _SÄkerhetsPOlisen_ (official English name: _Swedish Security Service_ ). It is the Swedish security agency responsible for counter-espionage, counter-terrorism, as well as the protection of dignitaries and the constitution.
> 
> 2) BRIS stands for _Barnens Rätt I Samhället_ ( _Children’s Rights in Society_ ) and is a politically and religiously independent children's rights organization. They do a lot of good work, but mostly they are a helpline and a place where children can turn for support. Physical abuse has always been their most central issue but they offer support for children who are mistreated, having problems or needs support and advice as well. It’s a very visible organisation with information campaigns in schools etc, so most Swedish children grow up knowing about it and how to reach out.
> 
> I think this is just the type of thing Eggsy would devote his time to as a Prince of Sweden and he would probably have been an honorary board member since the day he heard about it.
> 
> 3) Visual aids:  
> [The Cabinet meeting room at Stockholm Palace](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Konseljsalen_800p_2011a.jpg)  
> [Princess Sibyla's apartment and Stockholm Palace by night](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DWmADBn8jc8708Ttm-68luQpUgE4r92U)  
> The [inner](https://www.kungahuset.se/images/200.602035f01446f078fa885e/1394837255262/110312-KRPR-Namnsdag-foto-David-L%C3%B6fvendahl-1.JPG) and [outer court yard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Yttre_borgg%C3%A5rden_fr%C3%A5n_Storkyrkans_torn.jpg) at Stockholm Palace  
> [The Royal family in the window of the Vasa room](https://www.kungahuset.se/images/18.58fbba5d1623a378c4840c8a/1525095656251/WEBB_20180430_HMK_f%C3%B6delsedagsfirande_foto_H_Garl%C3%B6v_2590.jpg) (though I imagine it being completely packed when Eggsy & Co do it at the end)
> 
> 4) The title comes from a quote by George Bernard Shaw
>
>> The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.


End file.
